On a whitening approach to partial channel estimation and blind equalization of FIR/IIR multiple-input multiple-output channels

Channel estimation and blind equalization of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communications channels is considered using primarily the second-order statistics of the data. Such models arise when a single receiver data from multiple sources is fractionally sampled (assuming that there is excess bandwidth) or when an antenna array is used with or without fractional sampling. We consider estimation of (partial) channel impulse response and design of finite-length minimum mean-square error (MMSE) blind equalizers. The basis of the approach is the design of a zero-forcing equalizer that whitens the noise-free data. We allow infinite impulse response (IIR) channels, Moreover, the multichannel transfer function need not be column reduced. Our approaches also work when the "subchannel" transfer functions have common zeros as long as the common zeros are minimum-phase zeros. The channel length or model orders need not be known. The sources are recovered up to a unitary mixing matrix and are further "unmixed" using higher order statistics of the data. A linear prediction approach is also considered under the above conditions of possibly IIR channels, common subchannel zeros/factors, and not-necessarily column-reduced channels. Four illustrative simulation examples are provided.